Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend and all you Mommas had a fab Mother's Day! I know mine did teehee we sent her lots of fun gifts from Macy's NYC haiiii...I just wish I could have spent the day with her womp. FaceTime helped us bridge the distance gap for the present reveal. OK and WOW congrats to all the recent grads. It's mid May and everyone is starting new chapters and fresh beginnings. I officially feel old being 2 years out of school...never did I think I would be where I am doing what I do. Crazy how time flies and what wonderful things can happen. I wish everyone the best of luck on your post grad/summer/college/life endeavors. Buckle up!!! So I've been told, it's JUST the beginning ;)

Today I wanted to share with you one of my favorite print dresses! I found this beauty 2 summers ago here in the city. There was a Rebecca Minkoff Sample Sale in Soho and you know I had to stop by. IT was pure madness and I definitely got my money's worth on this hi-low sweater print dress. The color pops and it's such an easy transitional outfit during this weird weather. I linked a few similar silhouettes and styles here, here, and here. My MIA lace up wedges are a great summer shoe. These are my second pair (exact same style) because I love them so much! I went through my last pair (the streets do some damage) and snagged this pair on sale (similar here and here).

My momma always taught me to pair my accessories together...and as I've grown that idea has stayed with me. Sometimes I like to mix it up but camel browns and leather looks are great for the spring/summer. I feel like it all gives that boho summer vibe. This DVF cork bag (similar here and here), along with my Kendra Tassel Necklace and lace up shoes are a summer go to combo for me.

If you can't tell...I'm loving all the city blooms. My allergies not so much, but hey I can definitely deal if it means a break from the snow.

Once again congrats to everyone and YAY for summer. Hope you all have a wonderful day.

Monday, May 4, 2015

Tis the season for getting married! IT's that time of year again, and if your Facebook feed is anything like mine. Everyone is getting hitched <3 This post was inspired by my last trip down south for my sweet friend's wedding. I was a bridesmaid and we all seriously had the best time! We were lucky enough to have an easy going chill bride (zero bridezilla) haha she let us choose our own dresses and do our own hair/makeup if we wanted to. Soo in that case, I decided to do my own makeup and hair for the ceremony. We were short on time (Because we were chatting eating and hanging out oops) and I was feeling pretty confident in my beauty abilities. After being stuck in the airport for 15 hours I had plenty of time to practice. I know a lot of times I'm not too sure what to do with makeup for special occasions. Normally my go-to is a bold lip...I definitely flipped back to a few Pinterest pins for this look (HERE & HERE). I think it's great soft look for a Bridesmaid or even a guest.

Our dress colors were pink blush so I wanted to keep a natural look. The thing about wedding makeup is you do need to go a little heavier than normal since it's picture running around madness central. You always want to show up on camera without looking washed out. You almost have to overdo it and then smooth it out..you'll see.

NOW LET'S GET STARTED :)

So here is my blank canvas. Below are some of the key makeup products I used for the day. I linked them to make it easier for you to see. I have a nice mix of high-end and drugstore makeup. Also sorry for the million images. I just wanted to make sure I didn't leave anything out! This probably would have been a good video tutorial...but this way you can pin the images and flip back to parts you want to see.

FACE

First I begin by moisturizing my face. I'm not usually super picky with moisturizer. A basic oil-free works for me. Just in case, I decided to go for the sensitive/gentle skin formula with my CVS moisturizer. After moisturizing I used the Elf Primer to keep my makeup in place. It was about 90 degrees in Texas that weekend and the last thing I wanted was melty makeup!

My favorite foundation is Nars Sheer Glow. I use Light 4 and applied it to my face to even out my complexion. After I applied I use my Tarte brush to blend and then build on with the product. So here is where I went heavy with the foundation. Plus this foundation is pretty light and does have an airbrush finish after blending.

Blending....

Next I take my Nars concealer and place it under my eyes and problem spots. It's has a nice coverage and just to make sure it's all blended I put a tiny bit of foundation over the concealer and blend outward with my brush.

Some people skip this, but I like to put a light layer of mineral powder to set my concealer and foundation. I have Elf in Medium and use a more concentrated brush for this part to really blend it into the skin. Then I take a fluffy light brush for my Elf high definition powder. THIS STUFF IS AMAZING. It's almost an exact version of Nars ...but for $5. It's seriously once of the best drugstore setting powders I have used. I've gone through an entire container!

SO here is the part I watched a million tutorials for...contouring. This Anastasia Contouring Kit has literally been blowing up the internet. It just scared me to actually use it! What if I looked like a clown? Because this looks pretty scary HERE. Luckily a friend really encouraged me to try it and gave me a few pointers. My beauty blogger friend Emily also has a really helpful post on the basics of contouring. I found that contouring really does make a huge difference...especially in photos for special occasion makeup.

I start with the shade banana on the top middle of the palette and apply it under my eyes and T zone.

Next I take this middle shade with an angled brush and highlight my cheekbones, jawline, and nose. I also used this pin HERE to guide my brush.

After contouring with a darker shade I take a lighter shade to highlight the middle bridge of my nose and above my cheekbones.

Haiiiii looking a little crazy here...but next take a fluffy brush and blend, blend, blend!!!!

Add a touch of color with blush...

EYES

I LOVE these two colors on the Naked 3 Palette <3 I wanted to try to create a blush smokey eye. I used the color "Limit" for my lid color and then "Strange" to highlight my brow bone.

I used these three colors to build my smokey look and started with the colors (left to right) I used the darkest color "Mugshot" and blended from my outer lid towards the middle of my eye.

I am obsessed with this Elf Intense Ink Eyeliner Pen. It's does an amazing job when it comes to tiny details. The pen gives me more control and it goes on really smoothly. I have had some liquid liners that bleed and blob on...this not at all! I love it. To soften the line I always like to take an eyeshadow over it with a flat brush (below).

Blend. Blend. Blend.

Below shows one eye finished. Just so you can have an idea...I also filled in my brows. I didn't include that in this post but check out what I use HERE on my previous beauty post.

LIPS

Here I used the Mac Lipliner in Boldly Bare. I lined my lips (and went a tinyyy bit out of my hipline) to get that pouty full look. Because we all want that Kylie Jenner Status haha Then I filled in my lips with the liner and used my finger to smudge it in. I chose to top with a sheer/natural gloss and used Nars HERE.

Thanks Judes ;) Sooo a friend came and visited back in October and I have been babysitting her Mac Lipliner and Naked 3 Palette. So I gotta give props to my girly for making this post possible haha ;)

DONE TIME TO PARTY!!!!

Hope you all liked this post! We were battling the light in my apartment...the sun was about to set and we were scrambling to get these images. Oh the woes of blogging. Let me know what ya think. Hope you found this helpful...definitely repeating this look for a May wedding I am attending.